Women’s Health Takes Center Stage at UN Population Awards   

By Aruna DuttUNITED NATIONS, Jun 24 2016 (IPS)Social Scientist, Carmen Barroso and Polish Organisation, Childbirth in Dignity received the United Nations Population Awards here Thursday for their outstanding work in population, improving individuals’ health and welfare, and specifically for their decades-long leadership in women’s rights.“I dedicate this award to anonymous health providers everywhere, who day in and day out help women to exercise their rights and preserve their health,” said Barroso on accepting the award.Barroso has been actively involved in reproductive health and population issues for more than forty years. She was selected for her leadership in developing programmes, funding and policies related to sexual and reproductive health and rights and for mobilising the voices of people in the South around those issues.In 1966, Sao Paulo, Brazil, a country rising under the weight of a military dictatorship, Barroso was a 22 year old college student living off of her husband’s meagre salary. Committed to achieving social justice, they did not plan to start a family for many years, and had a very important vision of their future.On birth control for a long time, she was becoming uncomfortable with the hormones she was putting into her body. A doctor offered her an alternative: IUDs. When she started, she began having copious periods of painful cramps, but she decided to wait in hope they would go away. But they didn’t. One day, she missed her pe...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Aid Civil Society Development & Aid Featured Gender Gender Violence Global Governance Headlines Health IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse Population Poverty & SDGs Women in Politics Women's Health sexual and reproductive health Source Type: news